The Saiyan Saga: A Little Bit Late
by Pixelfun20
Summary: Running from an enemy that he cannot defeat, Gohan tries to figure out a way to stop the villain who killed all of his friends and family... without bleeding out in the process. One-shot. Story idea up for adoption.


**Woah. How long ago did I write this, again. *Checks file date* 2015?! Wow, then this was one of my first stories...**

 **I wrote this two and a half years ago, but it feels longer than that. I originally wrote it in a notebook, during my free time when I didn't have access to a computer, and uploaded it to FF in short bursts as I typed it out. I eventually took it down because it sucked (it did... ugh. I still shudder when I look at some of the one-shots I still have up on my account). A couple months after doing so, however, I found myself scrolling through my files, and found this buried deep inside. I brought it up (thanks nostalgia) read it, cringed, and then took a couple hours to rewrite, edit, and add a couple new parts to this one-shot. It's definitely not perfect, but it's close enough, and I finally decided to re-upload it today. I've been having formatting issues with FF lately, though, so apologies in advance if this looks a bit weird. It's not my fault!**

 **I will not be continuing this story, but if someone else wants to, just PM me and I'll send you the little plans I had for continuing this story for you to write yourself.**

 **So... yeah.**

* * *

Run. Run faster!

Gohan half-leapt, half sprinted through the rocky outcroppings. The 11-year-old boy was panting hard, lungs struggling to keep up with the pressure exerted on them. Half of his purple gi shirt was decimated, and three-quarters of his right pant leg were gone. A huge burn mark covered most of his knee, and there was a fist-sized hole in his upper-right chest, right above the lungs.

Pain and fear filled Gohan's thoughts, adrenaline and ki fueling him when he should've fallen unconscious long ago. But he couldn't afford to get knocked out. If that happened, he would surely die, and no one would have the power prevent the world from being destroyed.

Leaping down from one of the smaller outcroppings, Gohan misjudged the distance to the ground in his haste. His foot hit a rock, twisting into itself. The child fell into the dirt face-first, dust getting into his wounds, aggravating them so they hurt worse. The boy sucked in a cry of pain.

Scowling, Gohan got back up, coughing as he did so. Flecks of red sprayed into his hands, and his lungs felt like they had burst into flames. Doing his best to ignore the blood and mind-numbing pain, Gohan inspected his ankle. Despair quickly set in; how was supposed to run if the ankle was twisted? At the very least, it was going to be much harder to escape the Saiyan's reach now.

Saiyan. Bile rose up in Gohan's throat just thinking of the feared warrior race. They killed for sport, often committing genocides in the process. Gohan himself was ashamed of his super-powered blood; his father was the only exception to his hatred of the almost extinct race.

Gohan shook himself as he began to run again, ignoring the shooting pain that came through his ankle.

"Remember Piccolo's lessons," he murmured, almost silently, to himself. "'Pain is only a signal, telling you that something is wrong with your body. Accept it, and then let it go. If you let pain dominate your mind, you will die, whether it be by my hands or the Saiyans'!"

It was very difficult to throw off the pain now, though, even if it was the seventh time he had recited the quote to himself. The heavy breathing wasn't helping the condition of his lungs, either.

"Brat! Show yourself!"

His enemy's voice echoed throughout the rocky cliffs, almost making Gohan stop in fear. He was close. Too close.

The demi-saiyan's eyes scanned the rocks, looking for a small cave or crevice where he could hide for a moment or two. _Hopefully, I might be able recover a bit of my strength if I stop,_ he thought. If there was one thing Gohan knew about the Saiyan in the few hours that he had known him, it was that he was patient. Proud and easily annoyed, yes, but patient. The Saiyan wouldn't just blow up the planet to kill him.

No, Gohan had caused way too much trouble to die that quickly.

The boy's eyes caught a glimpse of darkness. Not even waiting to see if the cranny was big enough for him of if it was some animal's den, Gohan leapt inside, burrowing into the back of the crevice. Barely a half minute later, the Saiyan stormed past, his frustration and anger causing him to just miss the cave that his enemy had just hidden inside by two feet.

Gohan let out a deep breath, the greedily gasped for air. He hadn't noticed that he had been holding his breath, and he wasn't exactly in a position to go without oxygen. Oh, Mom was going to have a fit when she realized that he was so heavily injured.

Bulma. Mom. Gohan hadn't seen them for a long time, ever since he had been kidnapped by Raditz nine months earlier. Afterwards, he had been training with Piccolo, too busy to visit. In fact, the only humans he had really seen in the last few months were Tien, Krillin, and Yamcha, now that he thought about it. Thinking about the three brave men sent a wave of pain through his heart, and Gohan didn't need to put a hand up to his cheek to know that he had started crying at the very thought of his father's childhood friends.

 _No! Be strong! Remember Piccolo's lessons!_

"Do not worry about death," he murmured, furiously wiping his eyes. "Death is a natural occurrence in battle, a part of the cycle of life. Do not dwell on the dead, for you do them no good if you don't focus on the living."

Gohan's hand hit something wet, and he winced, pulling his hand away as the water bit the scrapes on his knuckles. So that was it. The trickle of water to his right was enough to carve out this four by five foot cavern.

Gohan's vision began to blur. He was so tired, and his injuries throbbed. It wouldn't hurt to take a quick nap, could it?

 _No! I have to stay awake!_ The small, reasonable part of him was shouting as loud as it could, panicked and fearful. _Tired… tired is bad, remember? I read that somewhere…_

But the rock was so comfy. It couldn't hurt to rest his eyes for a moment…

* * *

Gohan's eyes shot open, and jolted awake, his limbs momentarily contracting. The world was just a set of blurs, and in the distance, he heard something booming, causing him to wince as it reverberated around his head. Something wet was dripping down his chest. The young boy moved sluggishly, thoughts jumbled from the heavy blood loss. He had little to no sense of what was going on, and started to panic.

 _Think! Think! Healing. I have...to heal, or…I die! If only I had a senzu…That's it!_

Shoving the dizziness and nausea to the back of his mind, Gohan forced his arm to move. Feeling as if he was lifting several tons, slowly, ever so slowly, Gohan fumbled with his belt, fighting off unconsciousness. He had a feeling that if he went back to sleep, he wouldn't wake up.

 _Work, hands, work!_ Gohan struggled to stay awake and keep his fingers moving, breathing heavily with the effort needed.

There!

Gohan's hands clasped around a semi-oval. Piccolo had been saving a senzu for the battle, just in case. He had stolen from Korin (much to the elderly cat's annoyance), and had split it with Gohan right before the battle. Until now, he had completely forgotten about it, the small even easy to loose in the chaos that had followed.

Black began to fuzz around the edge of his vision, and it didn't take a doctor for Gohan to figure out that he had seconds to live. Desperate, and with uncontrollably shaky hands, the 11-year-old boy raised his hand to his mouth, ignoring all the pain that screamed for him to stop. Strength fading, Gohan opened his mouth and dropped the bean in. He closed his eyes, arm dropping to the ground. There was a light in the back of his mind, telling him to let go, that it'll take him to a happier place.

 _No! Swallow, dang it! Swallow!_

Using the last of his power, he did so, forcing the senzu down his throat. Then he gave up, letting the light envelope him.

 _It was nice…peaceful, almost. Black covered the boy's vision, and then something formed in front of him. Was that a desk?_

 _"No! Gohan can't be dead! He was our last hope!"_

 _Piccolo? That certainly sounded like his mentor._

 _"No, something's wrong; he's transparent. Is he a soul, perhaps?"_

 _Tien? Gohan couldn't tell. Everything was blurry, and his thoughts moved at a snail's pace._

 _"No, he would've earned a body for—"_

Suddenly, a painful yanking took place in Gohan's gut, pulling him away from his friends. The boy cried out; he wanted to stay here, where it was warm and safe, where no one was trying to kill him. Then, rock was underneath him once again.

Gohan gasped for air, his eyes fluttering open. _Oh my Kami,_ he thought, starting to hyperventilate. _What was that? What happened? Did I die? Is this the afterlife?_

The senzu. He never died, but came very, very close. A glance around the cave he had sheltered in earlier confirmed it. Figuring that problem out, the young demi-Saiyan took a moment to calm down. He was still alive, right? That had to count for something.

"Don't dwell on the past," Gohan muttered another favorite mantra of Piccolo's, testing out his limbs, curling each finger one at a time. "Focus on the here and now. What is done is done; you can't change it." Oddly, he found that reciting the quote to himself was soothing.

The 11-year-old boy did a quick self-inspection. The wet stuff that he had felt earlier had been blood; his gi was soaked in it, his leg caked in red.

It seemed that the senzu had focused most of its power on bringing Gohan back from the dead; his chest wound had been mostly healed and was now only a dozen or so shallow scratches no bigger than a large papercut. Only a trickle of blood seeped from the injury, and the pain had lessened to that of a large bruise. His leg burn was mostly untouched, though it had stopped hurting as bad as before. Gohan's ankle had been healed completely, thank goodness.

Taking a sip of water from the tiny spring that he had noticed earlier, Gohan emerged from the cave, ready to get back to the battle. Then, his spirits plummeted.

Everything was just…gone. Mountains had been leveled, plateaus razed, until everything was flat. His own nook had been missed by only a few inches. Judging from the position of the sun (he sent a silent thank-you to Piccolo for teaching him survival skills), Gohan must have only been out for around twenty-five minutes, yet everything had been destroyed with a scary precision.

"When you think you will lose, you've already lost," Gohan recited to himself. He had read that particular quote in a book somewhere.

"Oh, my boy, there's no need to say that. You're already dead."

Two feet hit the earth behind him, and Gohan felt icy chills go down his spine. Turning around quickly, he leapt back, taking a defensive posture. Despite trying not to, he found himself favoring his injured leg. No doubt it would be noticed.

As he expected, there was Vegeta, smirking triumphantly. He wore his Saiyan armor, and Gohan knew that the stubble that was once his tail was on his backside. The prince was a bit worse for wear, though, thanks to the efforts of his friends and father. Blood dripped from his hairline and lip, and his left leg had been hit the worst. Cuts and bruises covered his body.

Vegeta, seemingly unhampered by his injuries, laughed, crossing his arms. "You seriously think you can win? As if," he mocked, spitting on the ground. "You're the half-breed son of a third-class Saiyan! There is no lower denomination for you." The Saiyan tilted his head up and laughed an over-confident smile on his face. "Why don't you just—"

Suddenly, Vegeta was cut off as Gohan attacked him with the ferocity of a cornered and dying animal.

The demi-saiyan started with a fierce right hook to Vegeta's cheek, throwing the Saiyan off-balance and cutting off his words. Before he had a chance to recover, Gohan kicked him in the side, the switched to the opposite leg to try and sweep him off his feet.

But by now, the prince had already anticipated the move. Vegeta took the hit without even a wince, and falling sideways to the ground, firmly planted his right hand in the rocky ground, pushing both feet outward. All this happened in less than a moment, and his feet smacked Gohan in the chest, who, in turn, was pushed into the dirt some twenty feet away. Hurriedly, he struggled back to his knees. He couldn't afford to lose this battle! Not after all the sacrifices the other Z-fighters had made!

"You dirty little brat," Vegeta muttered, getting up and brushing the dust off of his armor. He took a swipe at his lip, where more blood had started to trickle out. "You are extremely lucky I'm weak enough to let you actually hit me."

Recovering quickly, Gohan got back up to his feet, just in time to see Vegeta forming a ball of chi in each hand. Crossing both hands in an 'X' pattern, he barely blocked the energy blast barrage, gritting his teeth at each painful hit to his guard. As soon as the ki attacks stopped coming at him, the demi-saiyan prepared an energy attack of his own, placing to hands to his forehead.

"Masenko-HA!"

The yellow energy beam hit Vegeta dead on, who had been coming in for a melee. The 11-year-old boy smiled as he caught his breath, expecting a bit of a respite. What he didn't predict, however, was for the prince to burst out of the dust cloud, damaged only slightly, ki blazing on each hand.

Gohan didn't even have a chance to fight back. At least five chi balls smacked him in the chest, aggravating his partially healed chest wound, causing him to stumble backwards. Taking the opening, Vegeta slapped him to the side, then kicked his wounded leg with the force of an elephant. Gohan screamed in agony at the ruthless attack.

Hitting the ground hard, Gohan struggled to get back up. Getting up onto one knee, the boy glared up at Vegeta, who stared back victoriously, trying to appear even the slightest bit intimidating. _Dang it,_ he thought in despair. _He's won._ Grinning wickedly, the prince of Saiyans grabbed Gohan's throat, lifting him up into the air. The demi-Saiyan struggled uselessly, trying to pry the older man's fingers off of him to no avail, and struggled to breathe. Vegeta, evidently not satisfied with such a quick and (relatively) painless death, tossed Gohan to the side. This time the child rolled, bouncing along the demolished terrain until he came to a stop. Unconsciously, he let of a small whimper of pain.

Still refusing to give up, Gohan attempted to get back on his feet once again, this time shaking with the effort needed once he got into a crawling position as he coughed more blood into his hand. Completely confident of his victory, Vegeta strolled towards his enemy, hands on his hips. He gave an insane smile.

"Did you really think that you could fight the Prince of all Saiyans?" he taunted, and then gave a shout of cold laughter as Gohan shot him his best glare. "Don't make me laugh. Even your bald friend realized this in the end. While you ran like the coward you are, he died begging for mercy!"

Krillin. He knew the small monk more as his father's friend, but he knew that he was one of the strongest and bravest men he had ever met. And Vegeta dared to _mock_ that sacrifice?!

Something snapped. Energy flowed into the young demi-Saiyan's veins as he began to shake with anger. The air swirled around him, as if to give him some solace to his losses. Vegeta, who had once again thrown back his head in hard mockery, didn't notice.

Memories flooded into Gohan's mind. A Saibaman attaching itself to Yamcha, blowing itself and the brave ex-bandit up. ( _"Don't worry guys! I'll take care of this for you!"_ ) Chaiotzu, sending his last goodbyes to Tien ( _"Goodbye, Tien. I'll say hello to Yamcha for you in Otherworld"_ ), then the Crane student preparing the Tri-beam that would end his life, despite Gohan's protests ( _"This is for Chaiotzu, you monsters!"_ ). The 11-year-old boy could still feel his body in his hands. Piccolo, dying to save the student he had come to care for when Nappa attempted to kill his pupil ( _"It's alright, Gohan. You showed me what it was like to be loved."_ ). Gohan bit his lip as he remembered the beam of ki that had barreled towards him, paralyzing him in the moment he had needed most. _Why couldn't I have moved?_ _This is all my fault!_ Goku, distracting Vegeta as the prince—then a great ape—crushed him so that Krillin could cut off his tail ( _"I trust the both of you with protecting the Earth. I know you can defeat Vegeta for me."_ ). The memory of him falling, lifeless, to the ground as Vegeta dropped him was forever burned into Gohan's mind. And, in the end, even the socially-awkward monk that Gohan had considered as a best friend had fallen, attacking Vegeta with all of his might as he cried out for Gohan to escape ( _"Gohan! Gohan run! I'll hold him off; you get away from here!"_ ). And, instead of helping as any other, braver, man would've done, the child had ran, ran as fast as he could as he blocked out Krillin's screams from his ears.

Tears started to fall. And what had he done while all of his comrades had died? Nothing! He was a coward, not worthy of the people he called friends. _Why couldn't I have died instead of Daddy? He would've been able to do something!_ Self-loathing filled his being, and the boy's anger intensified.

Rage finally getting the better of him, Gohan roared, letting out some of the power that had built up inside of him. The ground cracked as a shocked Vegeta was blown away like tissue paper.

His hair suddenly flickered gold, floating up and then back down, as if caught in some sort of wind. Gohan growled, and it intensified tenfold. The child noticed nothing of this, hatred and self-loathing fueling his anger and blinding himself to anything that was happening outside of his body. He launched a fist into the stony ground, beating it as small craters appeared wherever his fists struck, almost as if the Earth itself was terrified of the now powerful being. His hair continued to flash between blond and black. Up and down is moved, as if in some sickening rhythm of death.

Meanwhile, Vegeta struggled to stand, legs spread wide and a hand up to his face to protect himself from the tornado-like winds.

"H-how can this be?!" The Saiyan Prince was too shocked to move, not believing his own eyes (though he would never actually admit it). "C-could he be the legendary Super Saiyan?! Impossible!"

More images flashed through Gohan's mind. His most recent memory of his mother, screaming at Raditz to stop and leave her son alone. Bulma in her mechanical blue jumpsuit, up to her forearms in oil and grease as she fixed his family's malfunctioning hover car. Little five-year-old Goten, squealing in happiness as he chased a butterfly, his father's look of complete innocence on his face.

 _Everyone's going to die because of me,_ he thought, tears streaming down his face even harder than before. _Vegeta's going to kill them all, and it'll be_ my _fault!_ Suddenly, Gohan gasped, finding an even larger source of anger.

Vegeta. The man who had started this all. The mercenary Saiyan Gohan had come to fear and hate in one short year.

Letting out of final, ferocious scream, Gohan hair spiked, turning gold and staying that way. The shock wave proceeded to obliterate everything in a five foot radius. While the dust cleared, Gohan could be seen standing upright, looking at his hands in amazement as he studied his newfound power as he hovered a few feet in the air. He no longer paid his wounds any attention, the nerves in his body overloaded with the raw power that now flooded his veins.

"No!" Vegeta finally cried in frustration, having finally gotten over his initial shock and disbelief. "There is no way that you could be the Legendary Super Saiyan! Only Super-Elites like me have the capacity to attain this power! This is impossible!"

Ceasing from his study of the new transformation, Gohan paused, and then slowly turned his head to lock eyes with Vegeta, who stopped his tirade with a sudden uncharacteristic fear.

It wasn't the aura or the sudden power that made the prince hesitate. It was the look in Gohan's eyes, one that Vegeta had seen almost every day in the mirror. It was one that showed the kind of utter emotionlessness that barely covered the seething anger and hatred underneath.

Everything was deathly silent. The world itself seemed to pause as Gohan and Vegeta eyed each other. One was calm, confident, and very angry. The other was terrified, but hid it perfectly under a mask of indignation and anger. Behind Vegeta, a single pebble fell, bringing the heart-stopping silence to an end. The storm began.

Suddenly, the young demi-Saiyan vanished. Panicking, Vegeta whipped his head and body back and forth, trying to catch a glimpse of the young Super Saiyan.

The prince blinked.

A punch hit him in the spine, and Vegeta fell, caught completely off guard by the power behind the attack. Before Vegeta could even hit the ground, he was kicked in the gut, flying away. Gohan smiled in satisfaction as he heard a rib crack.

Vegeta hit the ground hard, gasping for air. "Impossible," he cried to himself as soon as he was able. "I am the Prince of all Saiyans; the most powerful of my race! How can I not even see the boy move?!"

Gohan, as if on cue (perhaps he was being ironic), reappeared at that very moment, golden aura flaming. He stood in front of the prince, his arms crossed with a look of bored disinterest on his face. The Saiyan scowled, clenching his fists as he prepared to attack.

However, on the other side of the battle, Gohan wasn't thinking normally. He may have seemed calm and powerful on the outside, but was struggling to stay in control internally. His feral side, insistently growing stronger with each passing moment, wanted to fight, maim, kill, and destroy everything around him. Gohan's rational, human half, however, reasoned that killing Vegeta quickly would end all this battle and save the planet in the best light possible. Second by second, though, this side of him had less and less influence. And on top of everything, this 'Super Saiyan' transformation, as Vegeta had called it, was starting to hurt.

Vegeta stood up shakily, and jumped about thirty feet into the air, unable to stay undefended for so long. Tucking in his elbows, two sets of fiery ki appeared in his palms. Gohan merely blinked, tilting his head up as he stared at the prince with a look of monotony on his face.

The Saiyan cried out, firing out at least two dozen flaming ki balls at the young Super Saiyan. The demi-Saiyan slowly raised a hand. Right at the last moment, a green energy shield blossomed out from his palm, the green force field making the attacks explode on contact, sheltering the Super Saiyan effortlessly.

"This is not real!" Vegeta exclaimed to himself in shock. "He should've at least have had a bit of trouble with that attack! His power level must at least be 70,000! But… only the Ginyu Force have powers levels that high!"

"Will you not give up?" Gohan asked emotionlessly, letting his hand fall back to his side as the shield dissipated. "You will lose and die if you stay."

Vegeta roared, his anger increasing tenfold at the insult to his pride. He ascended even higher into the sky, putting both hands over to his left side. The Saiyan prince began to laugh maniacally as he prepared his trump card.

"Even your father couldn't combat this attack!" he cried triumphantly, fully confident in this move. "And it wasn't even at full power last time! Say goodbye to your precious planet!"

Gohan frowned as he watched purple ki gather around the elder Saiyan. _I know I can combat this attack,_ he thought, a bit worriedly, though his face remained impassive. _But can I keep this transformation long enough to defeat him?_ This Super Saiyan, as Vegeta called it, was really starting to throb, a terrible headache forming in his mind as the demi-Saiyan's two sides clashed against each other. His now temporary burst of power was starting to fade. He had a minute, maybe more if he pushed it. He had to hurry.

 _He's desperate, though,_ Gohan decided, scowling. _I have to stop Vegeta here and now; not for only this planet, but for all of the ones in this universe! The Saiyans are a menace to the galaxy!_

Choosing his form of attack, Gohan clasped both of his hands to his lower left side, deciding that it would be most appropriate to use the only technique his father had managed to teach him before he had died.

"Galick Gun…" Vegeta screamed as he charged his energy beam, purple aura flashing.

Gohan's golden aura flared around him, pulling up small rocks as he did so. "Ka…Me…Ha…Me…" The demi-Saiyan began to sweat, his Super Saiyan form becoming even harder to keep up. His hands shook involuntarily.

"FIRE!"

"HAAA!"

The violet and azure beams clashed in the afternoon sunlight, the same way that they had done only a few hours before, but this time with a new participant and much more powerful. Entire plateaus and rocky outcroppings vaporized in just the initial shockwave of energy.

Gohan's Kameha, at first, easily overpowered Vegeta's Galick Gun. Blue began to cover the purple, even as Vegeta pumped more energy into his blast.

Then, the Super Saiyan power faded completely, and Gohan's hair faded back to black. _NO!_ His strength, confidence, and spirit plummeted; the size of his Kameha shrunk to a fraction of the size it was before, and Vegeta's energy beam began to overcome Gohan's, rapidly approaching the young hero. He began to panic, and the demi-Saiyan fell to one knee, gritting his teeth as Vegeta's attack crept closer and closer to his precious Earth. It was apparent that Vegeta was toying with Gohan as he realized that he had lost the transformation, laughing maniacally as his Galick Gun rushed closer and closer to the planet.

"No," Gohan murmured to himself as his energy began to deplete. "I won't lose! I can't lose!" However, the words sounded shallow, even to him. _Who am I kidding?_ He thought dejectedly. _I can't even feel my arms!_

The semi-human dug even deeper, trying to search for any source of power in his anger that might combat the purple beam of energy. It was easy, and he screamed as his Kameha grew to become twice the size it was previously. However, it only stopped Vegeta's advancement momentarily before the Galick Gun began to creep forwards once again. It was at a slower pace, and only bought him a few more moments of life.

The prince's blast was now only a foot away from Gohan. The ground beneath the boy cracked and gave way, crumbling into itself. Now, he was on his last leg.

 _I… I'm going to die,_ he thought, squeezing his eyes shut as a stray tear leaked out of one eye. _I don't have any more power. After all I—we—went through, just to fail when I'm needed the most!_

Vegeta's attack snuck closer, until the demi-Saiyan was practically fending off the Galick Gun with his own hands, burning his palms as he did so. The last reserves of power depleted. Then—

"Masenko!"

"KamehameHA!"

Two more energy beams joined Gohan's, and Vegeta's Galick Gun began to recede.

"I-impossible!" Vegeta was shocked; where was his enemy getting all of this power?

Gohan himself was stunned, almost canceling out his Kameha in surprise. The boy glanced to his right, where the second Kameha was originating.

Gohan's heart skipped ten beats. There stood his father, his scarlet Kaio-ken aura flaming. At the same time, though, his form a wispy, the once-rocky area easily visible behind him. Gohan blinked, tilting his head in confusion. _Odd,_ he thought. _His attack seems real enough._ Catching his son's eye, Goku grinned, then winked. He pumped even more energy into his attack, pushing Vegeta's Galick Gun even farther away.

"Did you really think that we would leave you just like that?" His father asked teasingly, though his voice was strained. He must be having trouble holding Vegeta off like this, considering how his previous fight with him had gone.

 _Wait, we?_ Whipping his head to his opposite side, Gohan caught sight of Piccolo. He looked the same as Goku did, with the form of an apparition or ghost. Noting the look that his apprentice was giving him, the phantom Namek snorted.

"Keep your eyes on the enemy, brat!"

Gohan grinned. _That's the Piccolo I know and love!_ The eldest son of Goku turned his attention back to his Kameha, and though he was still exhausted, found a bit more energy in the comforting presence of his father and mentor.

"Keep it up, kid!"

"You can do it, Gohan!"

The demi-Saiyan gasped in surprise as energy suddenly flooded his veins. His muscles still ached, but at least the hero could feel them now. A glance behind him revealed a ghostly Yamcha throwing him a thumbs-up, and a transparent Chiaotzu beaming from ear to ear.

Now boosted in both moral and strength, Gohan turned back to the clashing energy, now confident.

Vegeta wasn't doing so good. He was tiring out, and his Galick Gun was now even with Gohan, Goku, and Piccolo's attacks. The prince scowled to himself; his power level was 30,000, how was the weakling matching it without his transformation?

Gohan frowned as his pushed all of his energy into his attack. Vegeta was powerful, very powerful, matching everything he and his friends threw push for push. _Do we have the power to beat him? He's heavily injured and_ still _kicking!_

Digging even deeper as he felt for more energy, Gohan felt at a much, much greater reserve. Super Saiyan. However, he knew that now wasn't the time to ascend. _I don't have the power to keep that transformation up for long,_ he thought. _I'll be able to keep it up for thirty seconds, tops, at this state._ _It's also too risky in another way. What if I lose control and attack the Earth? No, I have to wait. I need to find an opening._

"Gohan!"

Said boy glanced at his ghostly father, who was beginning to sweat.

"Krillin and Tien are going distract Vegeta," Goku ground out. "Attack on their signal!"

The semi-human nodded. In the corner of his eye, he glimpsed said humans prepare their energy on either side of the invader. He could barely make them out through the crackling energy and dust their beams were throwing up. Vegeta, focusing entirely on the energy clash, did not notice them.

"Tri-Beam-HA!"

"Distructo Disc!"

Tien and Krillin attacked, throwing the Saiyan prince off balance as he was forced to dodge Krillin's disk and remove himself from the clash. Tien's Tri-Beam, however, hit its mark dead-on and pushed him backwards…right in front of Piccolo, Goku, and Gohan's attacks.

"Now," Piccolo cried out. "DO IT!"

Reaching deep inside of himself, Gohan screamed like he never had before, his hair and aura flaring gold as his eyes switched to teal. The demi-Saiyan's Kameha grew five times as big as it was previously, Goku and Piccolo's energy beams becoming near insignificant next to it.

Before he could react, the twin Kamehamehas and Masenko hit Vegeta square in the back. In just a few seconds, he was gone into the sky.

Gohan collapsed in his self-made crater, falling down to the rocky dirt. He winced at the rocks hitting his wounds, breathing heavily, but nevertheless started to laugh aridly. "We did it!" he shouted to the sky. "Thanks for helping, guys! How did you—?"

The eldest son of Goku looked around the fighting ground in sudden confusion. The area was empty. Rubble coated the ground, but there were no other Z-fighters, ghost-like forms or otherwise.

"—do it?"

A hand put itself on Gohan's shoulder, and the demi-Saiyan jumped, turning around. There stood Piccolo, even more faded than before—Gohan had to squint to make him out. The Namekian smirked, showing his razor-sharp fangs that had used to scare the young demi-Saiyan so.

"You did well, kid," Piccolo praised. "We'll be watching over you."

"Thank you," Gohan replied happily, grinning. Still smiling, Piccolo vanished completely.

The demi-Saiyan let out a long sigh, finally catching his breath, and turned his head back to the ground. Vegeta was dead. He was dead! _Man,_ he thought jokingly. _My muscles are killing me!_ With a jump, Gohan realized that he was still a Super Saiyan, which he had somehow retained despite the energy clash. _This'll come in handy, if I can learn to control it._

Thud!

In surprise, Gohan jolted to his feet and into a fighting stance, his golden aura flaring. Then, he relaxed, lowering his arms and realized he was under no threat.

It was Vegeta. The prince was covered in horrible burns and other injuries, and half of his armor was decimated. As the young Super Saiyan watched him suspiciously, Vegeta fumbled with a small remote, pressing some random buttons. In a few more seconds, he finished whatever code he was punching in and dropped it to the ground, having no more strength to hold it up.

 _He thinks that he can get away?_ Gohan thought, shaking his head as his feral side took over for a moment. _He's so stupid_. _He deserves death for what he's done, and an eternal afterlife in Hell._

The 11-year-old Super Saiyan strutted confidently over to where Vegeta lay as the full-blooded Saiyan struggled for breath. Hearing him approach, the prince turned his head over, looking Gohan straight in the eye. In a moment, something intimate passed between the two mortal enemies. Vegeta was accepting his death with pride, but also slightly respectful as the semi-human raised his hand, preparing a ki blast to finish him off.

' _I_ _lost_ ,' his eyes read. ' _Kill me._ '

The Super Saiyan frowned, a little bit of light returning to his teal eyes. Gohan gritted his teeth and forced himself to let the ki blast fade. Vegeta watched the boy in a mixture of shock and confusion as his space pod landed beside him. _So that's what the remote thing was for._ Gohan eyed the fallen prince for a moment, his eyes betraying the conflicting sides in his soul. Finally, the Super Saiyan sighed, and, with a few well-placed curses that he could have only learned from Piccolo, picked up Vegeta in his arms.

Walking over to where the pod's door had opened, Gohan tossed Vegeta inside, obviously uncaring on whether he injured the Saiyan anymore than he already had. The prince watched in shock and confusion.

"You're a fool," Vegeta murmured, struggling to get the words out in his current state. He coughed, hacking blood into his gloved hand.

"Not me," Gohan replied coldly. "This is exactly what my father would've done. As he is now dead, it is my job, as his firstborn son, to honor his wishes, especially on the topic of his killer. It's how we handle things here on Earth. Something you wouldn't know. Honor."

"Then… Kakarot has a thing or two to learn about the real world." Typing in the coordinates needed, the space pod's door began to close. Thrusting out his hand, Gohan made it pause in its closure momentarily.

"Come back," he warned, tone icy as the Antarctic wind. "And I won't be so nice."

Vegeta smirked, his eyes lighting slightly. "We shall see."

Gohan watched silently as drew his hand back to let the pod door close. The spaceship shot off to the stars just a second later. A few pebbles fell from the underside of the pod, bouncing back to the earth. Once he could no longer sense his opponent, the son of Goku's hair faded back to black, his eyes returning to their normal onyx. Then, he collapsed onto his back, laughing to the sky.

* * *

Eventually, though, he stopped, sensing a small power level off in the distance, rapidly approaching. It was about as powerful as Goku had been when Raditz had arrived.

Gohan grinned, as look of slight surprise on his face as he sat up. Off to his right, a yellow dot appeared, growing larger by the minute. In about thirty seconds, the yellow dot had grown close enough to reveal itself to be a small yellow cloud.

"GOHAN!"

Said boy laughed again for a moment as his father's Nimbus cloud approached, slowing down as a little boy, wearing a Chinese-style blue-green shirt with red pants and undershirt waved frantically at him. A mop of wild black hair adorned his head.

The little boy leapt off of Nimbus, flipping several times as he did so. His little feet thudded on the ground, and he immediately sprinted, full speed, towards Gohan. The semi-human realized too late how fast the young boy was going, his eyes widening as the little boy barreled into Gohan's chest, knocking some of the air out of him.

"Whoa, Goten," Gohan laughed, wincing as his chest wound from earlier throbbed. "You've grown since I've last seen you!"

The little boy, now known as Goten, began to sob, latching himself onto Gohan, hugging him tightly. The elder son of Goku winced again, but pushed away the pain—that could be dealt with later.

"You okay, buddy?" Gohan asked comfortingly, hugging Goten back softly, as to not aggravate his wound any more.

"Baba said that you had died with Daddy," Goten choked out, taking deep breaths as he began to calm down. "We were w-watching you through her g-glass ball, a-and t-then Baba said that you had died from blood l-loss and Roshi s-said that h-he couldn't s-sense you any more, then Mommy fainted and I went to h-help y-you! I didn't want to believe you had d-died!" The little five-year-old boy hiccupped, still crying.

Gohan smiled bittersweetly, and pulling Goten away from him gently, wiped off his tears.

"Hey, I'm here now, aren't I?" he asked jokingly. "Vegeta's gone, too, and he won't be coming back for a long time."

Goten sniffled, wiping his nose. "You sure?" he replied, eyes wide.

Gohan pushed away a stab of doubt. _He won't come back after the beating I gave him, and if he does, I'll kill him._ "Positive!"

The youngest son of Goku grinned. "You beat the Saiyans up good, didn't you? Showed them who is boss?"

Gohan blushed a bit, red tinging his cheeks. "Yeah, I guess I did."

Sitting down himself, Goten gave his older brother a once-over. "You got beat up too," he stated matter-of-factly. "Mommy's gonna be mad at you."

Gohan ruffled his younger brother's hair, pushing away his feeling of nervousness. _What if Mom's upset that I chose to stay with Piccolo?_ He thought worriedly. Chi-Chi was a really good mother, and he loved her with all his heart, but she was very strict and overprotective. _Have I disappointed her?_

"Well, I'm excited to see Mom," Gohan finally replied. "I've missed her."

"No!" Goten crossed his arms and pouted. "You shall be mine forever!"

The older brother laughed, getting Goten's joke, and ruffled his hair. "I don't think so, squirt."

The six-year-old opened his mouth to reply, but a whirring cut him off. The two brothers jumped in surprise. In the distance, a large yellow plane appeared.

Calling out happily, Goten flew up to flag down Bulma as Gohan struggled to stand, felling as if his lungs were filling up with water. He just couldn't seem to breathe enough oxygen to satisfy his aching muscles.

Slowly, the plane's door opened, and a worried squeal rang about the battleground as Chi-Chi sprinted towards her son.

"Oh my word, Gohan!" she exclaimed happily as she squeezed the demi-Saiyan. "You're safe!"

Black tinged the edge of his view, but Gohan only pushed it off. "Yeah," he murmured, returning her embrace weakly. "I guess I am."

"Are you okay?"

Bulma's voice seemed to come from far away.

"Gohan!" Was that Master Roshi?

"Oh no, someone get a medic!"

Everything went black.

* * *

Gohan groaned, his head pounding with a migraine. _What happened?_ He thought sluggishly. _Where am I?_

Finally, the demi-Saiyan managed to open his eyes. His whole body felt cramped and broken, and as he shifted positions, his headache came back with a vengeance.

"Huh?" Was the only thing he could say. The young hero was in a hospital room, white curtains pulled back to show the peaceful, sunny city day outside. Inside the room, he could see his mother helping a struggling Goten read a beginner's chapter book, the six-year-old mouthing the words out to himself.

"Thank, goodness, you're awake!" Bulma threw aside the magazine she was reading to step to her best friend's son's bedside as she noted his opened eyes. She playfully ruffled his hair. "You had us worried, little guy. You've been out for a couple days now."

"I was?" Gohan questioned. He shifted himself into a sitting position, muscles protesting.

"Yes you were, young man," Chi-Chi put in, standing up. "Never pull something like that on me again! I don't think I could take the stress."

Suddenly, Gohan remembered how exactly he had gotten there, and he bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry," he said softly, bunching up his bedcovers in his hands. "Daddy died again."

Sighing, Chi-Chi dropped her tough act and embraced her son softly. "Its fine," she replied into Gohan's ear. "It was worse for you."

"Uh," Goten interrupted the mother and son moment. "I have an idea to revive everyone."

"Yeah?" Bulma replied encouragingly to the little boy. "What is it?"

"It's kinda dumb, and not on topic," Goten continued, looking at his older brother as he fiddled with his thumbs. "But where did Kami-Sama come from? I mean, Daddy came from somewhere, so shouldn't he? He's less human than Daddy! I mean, with the green skin and all."

"O-of course!" Gohan exclaimed excitedly, his eyes shining. "Continue, Goten."

The Goku look-alike blushed. "I just thought," he resumed. "Maybe if there were more Kamis, then there would be more Dragon Balls, right?"

"Yeah!" Bulma seemed to catch onto the idea. "If we could find the place that Kami-Sama came from, then maybe, just maybe, we could revive everyone!"

 _And that—._ Suddenly, a voice rang out in everyone's heads. _Is where I, King Kai, come in._


End file.
